Coven of the Blue Moon
by ElisaD'Ancanto
Summary: Natalie and her best friends are just enjoying their sophomore year in college when strange events start occurring. They start receiving threatening messages from the supernatural world. Are their own powers enough to keep their coven safe?
1. Prologue: Beginnings

Prologue:

There is a time in every person's life when they are faced with a decision that could ultimately make their live better, or destroy it altogether. . . . . .

* * *

I have always known that I was different. Let's face it, being able to predict the future is not exactly normal. Well, at least not where I grew up.

I miss New York, I always will, but I had to move forward with my life. I can't live with my father anymore due to his fascination with verbal abuse that always seems to be directed towards me. He proclaims to love me when I know better than to believe a foolish fantasy. As a child I just accepted his anger and always blamed myself for his unhappiness, but as I grew older and my sense of free will grew I realized that no child should have to fully shoulder the blame of a parent's misery. I loved and still do love my father, but as time passed and my true nature revealed itself, his slight tolerance of me disappeared completely.

I don't know what I would do without my mother. She is the best friend I could have ever asked for and the type of mom that I am proud to claim as mine. She understands me. Well, she really gets me since most of my uniqueness comes from her side of the family. She is kind, gentle, beautiful and has a quick wit that makes the people around her smile with amusement. I don't how she has put up with my father. She once told me that when she first met him he was different. That he grew into this monster only after I was born, ten years after their marriage. No matter how horrid he behaves toward me or her, she still loves and defends him. For that, I will always respect and admire her.

As much as I would like to say that my siblings are a part of New York that I am glad to part with, I can't because I would be lying through my teeth. I have amazing yet amazingly annoying siblings who keep my world spinning. Fortunately for me, with two younger sisters and two younger brothers they are usually so wrapped up in what their sibling "best friend" is doing or not doing that my job is relatively easy. Simple job: Be the perfect example for the younger siblings to follow. Right, it is just as easy as it sounds.

Anyway, I chose to leave, to get away from the house that was stifling me completely. Granted, I did not plan on picking a private college in the middle of a small town and in a swamp no less as my reprieve from home life, but financially, it looked alright. I took a deep breath and confirmed my position as a freshman at Blue Moon College located in Batesville, Louisiana. My major you ask? Well, my passion is and has always been for dance, and since BMC offered it in a major plus several different choices in Music minors (my second passion), I started my college career as a Dance Major with a Minor in Music the specialty being Musical Theater. The small town college life took some getting used to, but hey, what's four years in hell?

Well, freshman year came to a close and I was beyond happy with my new life. My grades were superb, not that my father ever bothered to ask about them, but I had a new resolve to not let him interfere with my happiness. My chosen career was looking promising and the best news of all was that I had three best friends. I had finally met girls that I could talk to and share just about everything with. Granted, some of us were closer than others, but we made a perfect friendship of four. I was happy, really happy.

Alicia was purely the hippie of the group from the way she dressed to the types of music she liked to listen to. She had beautiful long blonde hair, calm blue eyes, and a smile that could light up a room. She was quite vocal, but she always pushed her friends to their maximum potential. She was a dancer and musician just like me. She was well trained and her passion for performing would exude from her body the moment her feet touched the stage.

I loved talking to her. She had a presence about her that drew people to her like moths to a flame, and although she was completely blunt to the point of pain, she spoke in a way that softened whatever blow she decided to casually toss your way. She was not afraid to fight for what she considered right and feared no one. There was a time that I secretly idolized her, but as time passed and our friendship grew, she became the older sister I never had.

I always thought there was something different about Alicia, but it was not until the summer before my sophomore year that I figured out what. Alicia, like me had a secret. She could read minds.

Trista was the youngest of our group, but was no less dear to our hearts. Trista was the pure soul. She was tiny, but no less beautiful with her short dark hair and her mocha skin. Her eyes were soft, kind, and blessed with the gift to see only the good in people. She, like the rest of us had a temper, but unlike us, it took quite a lot to get on Trista's bad side.

The four of us shared the common bond of music and Trista was no different. Onstage she was the comedian and an overall jack of all trades, offstage, she preferred to just sit back and watch as the action unveiled. You could always come to her with any problem no matter how small and she would listen with a welcome ear. I always could count on her to care, but be completely neutral in any discussion, even though it was to the annoyance of everyone in question.

She refused to think poorly about anyone and I always admired her for her sweet and gentle soul. She was the one that we would fight to protect and preserve her soul, but she also kept a secret. Trista was a ghost seer.

Victoria was the wild child. She was the one who tried to push all boundaries just to test them. With her hazel eyes, pale complexion, and her perfect jet black hair, she stood out in a crowd. She was a perfectionist and O.C.D. when it came to cleaning, but we grew to love her as she made our group a foursome. She was independent and tough and she let everyone see it with not only her carriage, but also her walk. She had a tendency to hold grudges, but as a group we never had any problems. Yet.

She had a confidence about her that I wished to have as my own. She knew what she wanted and organized herself accordingly. She refused to give up and hated to lose whether it be a game or a argument.

By this time, Alicia, Trista, and I had confided in each other about our gifts, but we decided as a group before Victoria came along that we would tell no one. We knew she was suspicious. Yes, there were _**way**_ too many coincidences occurring on a daily basis, but we never told her. It was slightly (well, maybe a little more than slightly) amusing to watch the wheels in her brain try to figure out what she was missing and put together the clues. She got close to guessing a couple times, but she never got it. She herself had no gift and we knew she would never understand, so the secret remained.

The three of us decided to make our group into a coven and as we said our goodbyes to the summer and hello to the new school year we appointed ourselves as the Coven of the Blue Moon. We are strong apart, but we are powerful together. The Blue Moon Bayou brought us together and so we shall never part.

* * *

My name is Natalie Wood. I am a sophomore in college, and have teal eyes and two-toned hair. I hold a secret, a secret that has been passed down through the generations. Some fear it, others hate it. I have accepted my differences and strive to learn as much as I can to help others. I am an empath with a talent for seeing the future.

Joined with my best friends, a telepath and a ghost whisperer, our powers protect us and make us strong. I made a vow of secrecy and I shall keep it till the day I die. This is my story, the story of the Coven of the Blue Moon.


	2. Chapter 1 : Roommates

**AN: Many thanks to Avery and Paige for their friendship and for pushing me to finally write.**

**Here is the first chapter! Enjoy!!!!!  
**

Chapter One: Roommates

Natalie awoke with a start to the blaring of her incredibly loud alarm clock signaling the start of the first day of her sophomore year at Blue Moon College. She quickly turned off the alarm and looked over to her roommate. True to form, Alicia hadn't budged from her cocoon of sheets and blankets that she covered herself in. With a smile on her face Natalie looked out her dorm room window and wondered what this year will be like.

Last year was horrible. She hated her roommate, her classes, her major, and sometimes even herself. Natalie ran a hand across her temple in memory of the terrible pain that had often decided to run rampant in her head last year. Unfortunately, her powers had decided that freshman year, of all years was the time to expand and grow. Most of her days were spent in utter agony as every emotion of all those around her were instantly flooded into her brain and heart. At times, it was difficult to decide which emotion was borrowed and which was actually her own. The pure stress of it all gave her constant migraines that were impossible to behave naturally with.

Hiding her powers became a nightmare. One minute Natalie was carefree and enjoying the nature outside and the next minute, after passing someone with a chip on their shoulder, she would break out in tears from the pain she would feel in her heart. Most of the time she could pass her unstable emotions as something simple as PMS, but even that was pushing the pages of believability a little too much. Some days, it would get so bad that she had to lock herself in her room just so she could get away from the people who were causing her literal grief and anger.

What was even worse, was last year's roommate. Natalie frowned a little at the thought of the tiny, but peppy cheerleader that had made her life hell last year. Kiley (the roommate) was the type of person who had a very wide range of emotions and enjoyed the constant shift from one to the other. She also had a nasty habit about making everything into a huge deal.

For example, one time a mutual friend to the two girls happen to take a single, solitary cookie from Kiley's food thinking that it was Natalie's and thus alright to take. Well, needless to say, Kiley was pissed and ridiculously so. It was awful. One minute Natalie was on her laptop surfing the web and listening to her friend and her own roommate gab about boys, and the next minute she felt as if she was on fire due to the tremendous amount of anger coursing through her veins. Fortunately for everyone involved, as soon as the anger came, it dissipated as the friend left the room to visit someone else. It was perfect timing too, because a second longer and Natalie would have been the one to blow up in anger at the thoughtlessness of the friend in question instead of Kiley.

Natalie had wanted to switch rooms and room with someone else, to save both herself and others from the emotions that she struggled to control. She _**really**_ wanted to, but what could she say as her reason for moving from a perfectly normal looking situation? She could have tried the straight forward approach. "Excuse me Sir, but I cannot room with my roommate anymore because she is way too emotional." Right, that would really work in her favor. Needless to say, Natalie could not wait until the school year was over.

A loud snoring sound coming from Alicia's hippie posted side broke Natalie away from her silent musing. A string of muffled curses left Natalie's mouth as she glanced back at her alarm with shock. She had only thirteen minutes till her first class! "Alicia, wake up!" Natalie yelled as she ran to her closet to find something decent to wear. "What's wrong?" Alicia sleepily muttered as she rolled over on the bed to find her glasses on the floorboard beneath her. She quickly placed the blue frames on her face and paused as if she was hearing some far off music in the distance. "Shit." Having heard the mental reason for her roommate's imitation of a tornado in her closet Alicia quickly shot out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to attempt to get her contacts in for her first day.

"Time check" Alicia called out as she began to brush her matted hair. "Nine minutes till class, we need to leave in four." Natalie replied as she fixed the straps of her leotard and began to put on a pair of loose sweatpants to cover her pink tights. "Remember that we have music theory class first then ballet second so you need to dress for ballet." "I remember" Alicia muttered as she leapt over various objects lying on the floor to get to her own closet.

"Two minutes till we have to leave" Natalie called from the bathroom while putting on her own set of contacts and brushing her teeth. She then quickly ran over to her desk beside her bed looking for her cell phone and student id. Because of the new system at BMC, to get in each building you had to have your card to get in.

"You carried them with you into the bathroom when you went to brush your teeth." Alicia answered Natalie's unspoken question without looking as she slipped her shoes on and grabbed the dance shoes and school books that she would need for today. "Let's go" Natalie replied as she grabbed her school books, shoes, and hair ties. She then ran to the bathroom and sure enough, there was her phone and id. As Natalie and Alicia locked their dorm room door and raced across the small campus to their first class, Natalie looked over at her roommate and thought _Life is **so** much easier when you live with a telepath._

* * *

"So….. How was your day?" Trista asked as the smirk she had been attempting to hide since seeing her dance friends broke free with a vengeance. The threesome was currently seated in the dining hall of the campus after fighting though a massive horde of students waiting in the lunch line for what only _slightly_ resembled food. Natalie looked down at her food and picked at it with a fork before evasively replying. "Fine, can you explain to me how it is possible to find a single, solitary chunk of pineapple in my spaghetti and meat sauce? There is not a single thing on the lunch menu that even contains pineapple in it!" Both girls peered at Natalie's food before looking at their own food with a critical eye.

"You would think that with all the money we are paying to go to this school that the food would be at least halfway edible." Alicia muttered in English before switching over to Italian to continue muttering. From what the other two girls could tell, she was still describing her extreme distaste for the food. "Well, food's bad, what did you expect?" Trista flippantly remarked with a wave of her hand. "Besides, you both completely avoided my question. How was your day?" "Correction" Alicia said, breaking back into English. "_Natalie_ avoided your question. I myself had a wondrous yet relatively simple day. All classes went as well as could be expected and as an added bonus, Natalie took a massive spill today in jazz class." Alicia finished her spiel with a huge smile and asked, "Do you want to tell her Nat or can I?"

Natalie threw Alicia a look that could have wilted flowers, but Alicia blew it off instantly with a smile and began to tell her story with excitement. "So, we were in class and we were doing our normal routine of dance combinations across the floor. Nat and I always go together and we were doing our last set of turns before we reached the end of the floor space and some yoga mats." Alicia stated as she began to use her hand to emphasize the next part of the story. "Nat, of course, _always_ has to try for four or five turns at the end of the last set and this time was no different. She made it around three and a half times before her foot slid out from under her and she somehow landed face first on the yoga mats. It was unreal!" Alicia stated between giggles as she started to recall the image in her head. "It is amazing that one as completely talented and graceful as Natalie can be such a complete klutz!"

By now both Alicia and Trista were in complete stitches just thinking about the incident. Natalie tried to be mad at her friends for picking on her, but the laughter was so contagious that she even let out a few chuckles herself. Besides, Natalie knew that with the fall like the one that she took today, it was definitely worth laughing about.

"What's so funny?" The three girls instantly looked up to see the owner of the new voice. "Hey Tori" Trista said, as she moved her books off the chair next to her so Victoria could sit down. "Nothing much, Nat just decided to start the school year with a bang." Trista replied with a smile. Alicia quickly piped in to add to the conversation "Well technically, Tris, I think it was more of a thud, than a bang." Both girls instantly broke out into new sets of laughter. "Did I miss something?" Victoria asked Natalie while eying both girls carefully with a slight smirk on her face. "Nah, nothing too much." Natalie replied while once again attempted to eat something on her plate. "I fell today in jazz. How was your first day?"

Victoria let out a huge sigh as she began to mix up what looked like salad greens and dressing. "Terrible. Not only do I have tons of homework due this week, already, but it just looks like it is going to be a tough semester this year. To make things worse, my room is a mess." Victoria stated with a cross glance to her roommate, Trista, who looked sheepishly back. "Sorry Tori," Trista stated quite apologetically. "I'll clean it up. It is just a matter of me moving in completely, I just haven't had the time yet." "Don't worry" Victoria replied with a slight smile. "I know it is only the first day of school. I just get stressed out when the room isn't spotless, especially when I have a lot of homework to do." "Well, consider it cleaned roommate." Trista replied with a slight mock salute. Victoria frowned in Trista's direction for a second before breaking into a chuckle at Trista's antics.

The four of them then fell into playful chatter that lasted them the rest of their sad excuse of a lunch. With a glance at the clock hanging on the back of the cafeteria wall, the foursome then grabbed their books and belongings and split into their different ways. Trista and Victoria headed over to the music building while Natalie and Alicia headed up to their room to change for their next dance class.

* * *

"Alright, we can do this." Alicia sighed as she lay sprawled upon her bed later that night and stared at the monster that was her incredibly high ceiling. "Umm. We? Who is this "we" that you speak of Ali?" Natalie retorted as she lay in a similar position on her own bed across the room. They had both finished their classes for the day and were now deciding whether or not to work on decorating the room.

"Unless one of us has sprouted wings recently and has forgotten to tell the other, or you have decided to pull a Jean Grey on me and add Telekinesis to your talent resume, this" she stated while pointing to the vacant ceiling "is not happening." "Nat, first of all, the answer is no. I have not sprung wings as cool as that would be. Secondly, no, I do not possess telekinesis. You have been watching _way_ too much X-men. Finally, yes, this is happening." Alicia said as she stood up to try to see how high she could get by standing on her desk. "Damn it" Natalie muttered as she sat up on her own bed to watch Alicia attempt to hang a tapestry from the very high ceiling by standing on a very unsafe looking wooden desk.

"Well?" A very strained sounding Alicia said as her fingertips were just barely keeping one side up. "Are you going to help or just watch?" "Do I have a choice?" Natalie asked already knowing the answer. "No," Alicia answered. "Help me".

"Here is the deal" Natalie said with a slightly evil glint in her eyes. "I'll help you, _**if**_ you agree to clean up the massive amounts of stuff that you have lying around the room." Alicia thought carefully before she started her next sentence. "That's why I am trying to put up this piece of cloth on the ceiling. Trust me; this beautiful tapestry will put me in a cleaning mood." Alicia said with a slight head gesture towards the other end where she needed Natalie to stand to help her pin the tapestry to the ceiling. Natalie just stared in wonder at her roommate then quickly rolled her eyes at the pure "logic" behind Alicia's statement and with a slight sigh, she then went to work.

* * *

One box of sticky tack, two boxes of push pins, and three hours later the two girls finished putting the final touches on their now tidy, dorm room. They both sank on Alicia's bed in exhaustion and admired their work. "I thought you said you only needed help with the tapestry, not the whole room!" Natalie groaned as she looked at the poster, cloth, and photo covered walls. "I cleaned didn't I?" Alicia said with a smile on her face knowing that somehow she had won the conversation.

* * *

_She was running. She was out of time. "Faster, I have to move faster" she thought as she raced towards her destination. She squinted in the pitch black dark of night to avoid the roots, branches, and rocks that attempted to slow her down and stop her from making her journey. Her legs ached from the distance that she had run, but she knew that she had to make it. The future was depending on it. Her clothes were plastered to her body from sweat and blood, but now was not the time to stop. "We were fooled! How could we have been fooled so easily? Faster, my legs have to move faster!"_

_A house was approaching directly in front of her. It had a dark and foreboding presence that chilled her very soul. She stopped before the steps leading into the one place she had been avoiding all year. She knew that it was a trap; after all, she was walking towards the very person whose greatest wish was to destroy her mind, body, and soul. Why wouldn't it be a trap? "I have to save her" she thought as she stood trembling outside the house and attempted to summon all the power and courage that she possessed. _

"_You have come." An eerie voice spoke from all around her. The scene changed. She was now inside the house. "You are too late" the voice whispered and then she saw the person that she had come to save. The body was broken and a mass of blood. The body now held the same presence as the house and it frightened her more so than the actual house. She raced over to the body with disbelief. "Please be breathing! Don't give up!" She thought as she bent over the body to feel for a pulse._

"_You are too late!" The voice cackled with triumph. "You failed her, you failed them all" Anger, all she felt was the strongest anger and utter loathing towards the voice that had destroyed everything. "Noooooooooooooooooooooo"_

* * *

"No!" Natalie shot up suddenly from her dream with tears streaming down her face. She was drenched in sweat. She started to shiver from both the shock of the dream and the chill of the sweat drying on her skin from the breeze blowing from an open window. Her breathing was erratic and close to hyperventilating, but she held it together.

She thought back to the dream, but as soon as she thought about the body her own stomach rebelled. She ran to the connecting bathroom and threw up the entire content of her stomach. She began to dry heave afterwards since she was still reeling from the shock. Finally, when there was nothing left to heave, she was able to stand up and go back into her room. Alicia was surprisingly still asleep, but then again, it was about four am.

Natalie crawled back into bed and tried to close her eyes, but every time she did she saw the dream all over again. As she began to slip into a restless sleep she thought _What horrors does the future have in store for my loved ones now? Tell me how I can change it._

* * *

**AN: Read and Review!! (Please?)**


	3. Chapter 2 : Visions and Gifts

**AN: Thanks to all who reviewed!!! Sorry about the late posting.......... Without further ado, here is Chapter 2!**

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Chapter Two : Visions and Gifts

* * *

Once again, sleep would not come to Natalie as she lay flat on her comfortable bed and stared vacantly at the ceiling. She wasn't really awake, but sleep refused to take her in her terrified state. She had a lot to think about and unlike most people's minds, Natalie had to work out her fears in her _**conscious**_ mind state. This fear however, was not her own problem mixed into a fearful and complex nightmare. This fear was not meant to relax the mind into tackling the problem in the waking hours. This was not a fear at all. Fears are simple to deal with because most of the time they have answers or reasons. The future is not simple by any means. It is messy, unpredictable, and has dangerous consequences for all who try to alter its path.

As a small child she was afraid to fall asleep. Natalie would tell her parents that she feared normal things before sleep like the dark, suspicious shadows, and the notorious boogie man, but her mind feared much more adult like things. Dreaming was a rarity that she welcomed with a smile, but horrendous visions were the normality that she had to face whether she wanted to or not. Sometimes the visions were light and carried happiness for the future. When she was seven she saw herself saving an infant from falling off a playground and landing on his head. Later that week the vision became reality and the child was saved. Some visions had happy endings. Most visions however, had a more terrifying tale.

She rolled over to look at her alarm clock which now read the time of six am. As she curled slowly into a ball facing her window she thought back to some of her more frightening visions. When she was twelve, Natalie had a power surge that made her dreams more vivid and less fragmented. In her dream, she was standing at her own freshly buried grave. The headstone read:

"Here lies Natalie Ann Wood; she was only thirteen years old."

It was so real that she could smell the freshly trimmed grass and feel it beneath her bare feet. After that particular dream, she spent months trying to find the answer to saving her own life before her time ran out. A twelve year old should not have to fear for her future.

Natalie did not sleep very well for about a year. When people read the stories about superheroes and Jedi knights with visions, rarely do they read about the fear and insomnia that comes with the package. One night she had a seemingly innocent dream about her deciding to sit in a different spot in her family van. The next day, Natalie and her entire family went in their beat up Astro van to the park. As she got in the car she thought about her dream and trusted it. She refused to let any of her family sit in what she claimed was her "favorite seat". They thought she was being crazy and for a while Natalie did too. After all, it was only a dream. On the way to the park they were in a terrible crash. Reality began to set in for the family. If Natalie had chosen to ignore her dream that day, she would have died instantly at the young age of thirteen.

As the years passed, and she grew stronger with her powers, the visions became an everyday occurrence. Natalie developed certain habits that would help her to cope with her visions. Alicia often would comment on Natalie's way to wake up in the morning as an instant source of amusement. When every moment in slumber is dreaming of death, injury, and sickness, it is not surprising that Natalie cannot wake up gracefully anymore. Yes, shooting straight up into a sitting position like death itself is chasing you is not always the preferred method, but it defiantly keeps thing interesting.

Natalie stole another quick glance at the clock praying that time would speed up just a little. To her dismay, she had only wasted about thirty minutes and her first class was not until nine. "Great" she muttered to herself trying not to wake her peacefully sleeping roommate. She had just enough time to think about this new horror and its meaning. "Perfect."

With an irritated sigh, she settled into her thoughts concerning the new vision and its ramifications towards her clan of friends. This vision was different than the rest. It held a feeling that was more personal than most. It gave her a clenching fear that gripped her heart with panic every time she was ripped from the dream.

_It has been a whole week now. _Natalie shuddered at the reality of having to go though the dream for that long of a time span. _I feel like I am going mad. I can't sleep. I can't eat without seeing rotting flesh on my plate. Every night I fear closing my eyes and when I finally relax into sleep, I start seeing it all over again. _

_It keeps getting worse though. The details keep getting clearer as if I am viewing a memory that I have forgotten and am now suddenly remembering. I know it is the future I am seeing, but I have no idea when it going to happen or more importantly, who it is going to happen to. I also sense something unnaturally evil in the voice, but I cannot place it. I can only hear it and fear it every night in my sleep. What if I can't stop it?_

_Alicia knows something is wrong, but I can't tell her. What would I say? _

_No, this is my problem and there is no need for me to make her unnecessarily concerned because of my "wonderful" gift. I just need to figure this out. Once I find out the reason for this vision and stop it from happening everything will be fine. Then I can finally sleep._

Natalie stole another glance at the clock. It was time to snap out of it and greet another school day. She quickly walked over to the bathroom sink and took a good look into the mirror hanging over it. Gazing back at her was a shockingly pale and frightened girl with the tell tale signs of insomnia. She covered up the dark circles around her eyes with makeup and began to work on her limp brown and blonde accented hair. Once she decided that she looked decent enough to face the world, Natalie took one last gaze at her reflection. "The future's counting on you Natalie. Don't let them down."

* * *

Later that day and across the hall, Trista was just making it back to her room after a long day of pointless classes. She turned her carbon copy of a key into its lock and pushed with all her might to get the door to her and Tori's room open. Trista hated that door with a passion. Now it was safe to say that she was a healthy girl with no physical problems, but thanks to God and her parents she was a little smaller than the average college student. Alright, she was tiny. God with his "wonderful" sense of humor had gone and made her a tiny, five foot three, 98 pound girl who had to struggle to open the door to her room every day. Talk about embarrassing. Granted, even her friends had difficulty with the extremely heavy door, but it was definitely _**not **_the same. With a sigh of exasperation, Trista put her books on her cluttered desk and threw herself upon her unmade bed.

It had been an interesting week to say the least. From having to abruptly move in (in normal people speak, that meant that the room had to be spotless) to appease her incredibly tidy roommate and the continuous amounts of arguments that followed, to dealing with her cranky and confusing British music advisor, Trista was worn out. To make matters worse, she had been having a little trouble with her special "friends".

They had recently decided that putting random objects in Tori's belongings was hysterical. Yeah, it was a riot. Fishing objects out of the toilet was just as about as fun as listening to Tori ream her out for finding her keys in the coffee filter. Fortunately, Tori thought that Trista was just being stupid instead of thinking that something else entirely was going on.

Trista sat up with alarm and took a brief scan around the room for anything that looked out of place. She calmed her heart down when the scan turned up negative, but she decided to physically investigate just in case her "friends" had decided to be extra mischievous today. As she slowly made her way around the room she stopped at Tori's coffee maker and examined it thoroughly. After deciding that there was nothing out of place or anything extra added she stopped in her tracks and let out a short laugh at her actions. To anyone who did not know Trista and her secret, it looked like she was looking for a bomb instead of something as innocent as a misplaced object.

Trista had always known that she was going to be special. Her mother, when she was pregnant with Trista, received a vision of a woman foretelling the life of her future child."The child," the woman said, "will be powerful and must be protected. By the time she reaches her 20th year she will be at her ultimate potential. You have till then to keep her safe." With a final look of warning towards Trista's mother, the woman left and the vision ended. Her parents took the warning very seriously and weeks later, Trista was born.

Protect Trista, her parents most certainly did. With every passing year, the over protectiveness grew until finally Trista and her parents had to have, what Alicia referred to as a "come to Jesus meeting". She knew that her parents loved her, there was no doubt, but sometimes they drove her crazy with their constant need to follow that visions orders.

With a shake of her head, Trista sat at her unorganized desk and began to doodle as she listened to her "friends" shuffle around the room. _Ahh, the life of a Ghost Whisperer, _She thought as she glanced over her shoulder to locate their positions. Trista's gift was not simple by any means. She had been gifted with the ability to literally see ghosts and other worldly presences. She saw them as clearly as she could see Alicia, Natalie, and Tori, but to her it was easy to see the difference between human and ghost.

Sometimes, ghosts would realize that Trista could see them and try to communicate with her, but most of the time they would just simply listen to whatever she had to say. They were not afraid of her and she did not fear them. They had a pretty good compromise.

At the moment, Trista had three "friends" (as she decided to call them) that chose to either stay with her or live their remaining days in her room. First, there was Amisi, or what Trista preferred to call her; her guardian angel. This angel from the dead was a beautiful African-American girl clothed in a gold garb that could only be described as tribal clothing. She did not wear any shoes, but she had many piercings ranging from her ears to her belly. She loved rings and other pieces of jewelry as they were displayed upon her body. She also had two distinguishing tattoos. One was a crescent moon that was positioned on her lower back and the other was a sun that was tattooed around her navel. Amisi would never enter Trista's or anyone else's room out of respect, but she would follow her around campus as if she was her bodyguard from the other world.

The two that chose to live in Trista's room were male, very mischievous in nature, but respectful to the personal boundaries of living with women. The taller of the two had olive-toned skin and dressed as if he could have been a businessman in his other life. He was _**very**_ nice to look at from his punk black hair cut with side bangs to his almost sea-foam green eyes. The shorter one was also _**very**_ appeasing to the eyes with his pale skin and shaggy blonde hair. His distinguishing feature had to be his eyes. With one blue eye and one brown, he was a sight to behold that put his male model fashion sense to shame.

_Yes. Having two gorgeous and toned ghosts around does make my power incredibly cool._ Trista thought with a dreamy look on her face. Her daydream was suddenly interrupted by an abrupt thud coming from behind her. She turned around to find the reason behind the noise. There, in the middle of her floor was one of Tori's textbooks that were normally placed upon the shelf above Victoria's spotless desk. _The downside, unfortunately, is that I have to deal with dead beings that are bored out of their minds. Seriously, ghosts have a very strange sense of humor to think that it is amusing to watch me to be picking up after them all the time._

With that thought, Trista picked the book up and attempted to find its rightful place. After chuckling at the alphabetized bookshelf of her neat freak of a roommate, she put the book back in its place only to hear another thud from behind her. Unfortunately, it was a louder thud. This time when she turned around, _**three **_of Trista's own books were used to the amusement of her "friends". With a slight growl towards the directions of both males, she once again picked up the books, but before she could put them up she saw something.

There, beneath some homework sheets that she had thrown on her desk when she first entered the room was a small white box and a note. She placed her books on the cluttered desk and picked up both the box and the note attached. She gently sat on her bed as she read the note in wonder.

_Trista,_

_I know that we have not gotten off to a good start as roommates this year and I do realize that it has been my fault. I have been dealing with some family issues and I have taken my frustrations out on you. I am sorry. I have to deal with some things at home so I have left for the weekend and will be back late Sunday evening. I am very excited about us rooming together and wanted you to have a gift as a token of my friendship with you. Hope that you like them!! I'll see you Sunday!_

_Victoria_

After recovering from her shock of reading the handwritten note, Trista's curiosity got the better of her and she quickly opened the mysterious looking box. Inside, on a bed of cotton were three silver rings. Trista's eyes went wide with surprise and joy as she slowly inspected each one. Two of the rings were plain silver, but each with a different design on their wide bands. They were very pretty and fit easily on each of her pointer fingers. The third ring was different. It had a narrower band than the other two and was fitted with what looked like an onyx stone surrounded by small sapphires. As she looked closer, she saw the final touch of the ring. There, engraved in the inside of the ring was her name.

Trista was speechless. She knew that the two of them had not been getting along recently due to their different views on cleanliness (one being a normal outlook and the other being the outlook of someone suffering from OCD), but even with their arguments, they still were friends. For Tori to be this apologetic, something bad must be happening at home. Just as she was about to put the rings back and call Tori to say that the rings were way too much to offer for a friendship that was not on the line by any means, she saw a tiny piece of paper nestled in the cotton.

_Trista,_

_Don't worry, two of the rings are homemade and the jeweled ring is one of three that I had planned on getting my best friends for Christmas. Please except them early and enjoy wearing them._

_Victoria_

_P.S. Don't tell Alicia or Natalie. I want their gift to be a surprise!_

After reading the second note twice to verify is content, Trista let out a whoop of excitement. Not only were rings her favorite type of jewelry, but she loved each ring and would have been quite upset with the thought of having to part with them. _Tori is such a great friend! I can't believe that she would go and get such a beautiful gift as a token of friendship. I can't wait to show Nat and Ali. They are going to love this. _She was almost out the door when Trista quickly halted herself and her thoughts with a slight frown.

_Damn it. I can't tell them. It is a surprise. _She glanced over to Tori's hanging calendar and sighed. _Three months. I have to keep a secret for three months which will __**never**__ happen due to Ali's telepathic nature. _She dejectedly sat on her bed when a thought stuck her. _I can still wear them. If they ask, I will just say that a friend gave them to me. That part is true and Ali won't be suspicious if I tell the truth. Well, most of the truth._

With her plan of action decided, Trista secured the rings on her fingers, threw open her door with less difficulty than before, and walked with a slight smile to her friend's room down the hall. Before she knocked on the door she stole a look to her guardian angel and couldn't find her. _Hmm. That's strange. Where did she go? I guess she doesn't always have to follow me after all. _She gave one more look down both hallways and with a shrug of her shoulders, she knocked on the door. The reply was almost instant and after hearing her friends beckon her to enter, she stepped inside.

* * *

**AN: As always, read and review!!!!!! (Please?)**


	4. Chapter 3:Friends, Warnings, and Whisper

**A/N: It has been a long time, I know. Anyway, Chapter three is finally up!!! **

**Thanks to all those who reviewed!!!**

**Enjoy!!**

**~Elisa~**

Chapter Three : Friends, Warnings, and Whispers

* * *

"Doors' open!" Alicia yelled without glancing at the direction of the door. Her attention was currently held by the intense fight scene displayed upon the television screen. She and Natalie had decided against going out on their first Friday back at BMC. It was partially due to the whispered rumors of multiple parties being busted just to prove a point, but mostly because of their exhaustion.

They had instead chosen to watch a television series that neither girl had time to watch in their "abundance" of free time. So without hesitation, both girls had hit up the local Wal-Mart (or lack thereof), picked out dinner, and bought a couple seasons of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_. The two girls had just finished stocking both of their fridges with food and preheating Alicia's contraband toaster oven when they came across a dilemma that would haunt them for the rest of the school year; who would wash the heaping pile of dishes?

It was no secret that Alicia hated to do dishes. Well, she basically hated to do anything that involved cleaning of any shape or form. She had a theory. She worked and lived better when she could find everything. If that happened to mean that everything needing to be found should be resting upon the floor, then so be it. Who was she to mess with a system that had served her faithfully for many years?

Now Alicia wasn't a slob by any means, but she just preferred to only clean when the mood would hit her. Unfortunately for Natalie, which Natalie was discovering quite rapidly, this cleaning mood did not tend to hit Alicia very often. It fact, this "mood" would only hit her when the "creative thinking atmosphere" that she had created for herself, otherwise known as a messy room, served to hamper her thought process.

Her conclusion consisted to two main points.

One, she was able to think quite creatively and easily when the room was a mess.

And two, Natalie should do the dishes.

It just made sense. In fact, Alicia repeated her thought to Natalie, but she did not seem to share Ali's enthusiasm for the bizarre connection.

With a slight roll of the eyes (Natalie's trade mark maneuver) and a shrug of the shoulders, Natalie grudgingly went to work on the dishes and Alicia eagerly tore open the packaging that held the DVD's in place. By the time Trista had knocked on their door, the two roommates had successfully started dinner, finished the large load of dishes, and were well into their first episode.

"Sweet! I love this show!" Trista exclaimed excitedly as she seemingly bounced over to her favorite "comfy" chair on the hardwood floor.

Both Alicia and Natalie broke their intense gaze from the screen to stare in utter wonder and awe at Trista and her childlike joy. Both girls' smiles changed to frowns as they exchanged a look. There was something odd about Trista's overall presence. Natalie sat up a little straighter as she felt prickles go down her spine in warning, but when she looked back at Alicia, her roommate had gone back to watching the television. Natalie reprimanded herself for being paranoid and then settled back into her chair.

* * *

"So, what's for dinner?" Trista asked very nonchalantly while watching the ending credits of the show flash on the screen.

By now, the room was filled with an amazing aroma that could only have been created by the master Italian chief, Alicia Harper. It was common knowledge on second floor that when Ali gets in a cooking mood, which is thankfully a lot more often than her cleaning moods; her food was worth fighting over.

"Umm, chicken with peppers and pasta." Alicia said as she took the dish out of the toaster oven to cool. As usual, her dish not only smelled amazing, but had great eye appeal.

"Trista, I forgot to tell you." Natalie said interrupting Trista's master plan to obtain a piece of the meal. "I discovered recently that I have a new ability!" She continued with an air of excitement while watching Trista with mischief in her eyes.

"Cool! What is it and how does it work?" Trista offhandedly answered without breaking her gaze from the platter of deliciousness that Alicia was currently taste testing.

"Well, I really don't know what to call it, but Alicia thinks that it should come in handy." Natalie broke off and stared patiently at Trista from her chair while shaking her leg in anticipation.

By this time, Trista was torn between following her stomach and following her own curiosity about the new talent. "Tell me already!" Trista said impatiently as her curiosity won over.

Natalie leaned in closely and whispered. "I know of your evil plan about Ali's food."

"You jerk" Trista exclaimed while playfully swatting her laughing friend. "I thought you really have a new ability."

"Oh, knowing the difference between normal Trista and the evil hungry Trista is an ability." Natalie stated between giggles.

Before Trista could add a retort, Alicia presented her dish before both girls and they all lapsed into silence. After thoroughly enjoying their meal and cleaning up the dishes involved, the three girls realized something different about their circumstances.

"Where is Tori?" Alicia asked while glancing at the time on her cell phone. Normally the four girls would spend their evenings hanging out in room 204 (Nat's and Ali's room), but tonight was evidently different since the fourth of their party was nowhere to be found.

"She said something about going home for the weekend" Trista replied while settling herself back into her favorite chair.

"Oh. I guess that means that the two of you spoke then. Am I right?" Alicia asked as she started to paint her nails.

"God, I hope so." Natalie muttered under her breath while reading something on her laptop before returning to her normal voice. "I can't take anymore of Tori's irritation."

"So I take it that you guys knew we were fighting?" Trista asked in embarrassment.

Two voices replied instantly. "Duh!"

"Hello, Empath" Natalie stated with slight annoyance. "As if you could really keep all those negative feelings hidden from me. Babe, I knew there was going to be a Tori versus Trista tiff before even you did. You guys are way too diverse, emotionally speaking, to stay neutral for too long. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"As for me," Alicia started without looking up from the delicate work on her left hand. "Have you forgotten that I can read your mind? Not to go all Yoda or anything, but I hear all and if I didn't hear it from you I definitely heard it from Tori. That girl has only one volume, very loud."

"Do you think you could describe emotions as being loud? If so, I would have to agree with you about Tori's volume level." Natalie remarked with a smirk.

"Always the drama queen." Alicia finished.

"So, were you guys worried about the fight?" Trista cautiously asked while trying to move the conversation away from anything that might be slightly incriminating. The replies were once again instant.

"Not a chance."

"Absolutely not."

Trista let out a snort of both amusement and relief. These were the moments in her life that made all the confusion of being "not normal" completely bearable. Natalie and Alicia, her two older sibling-like figures and best friends. To most outsiders, they appeared to be as different as night and day, but to those who really knew them, they were one in the same. They both shared the same passion for life and love, utter devotion for family and friends, and hopes for the future. It was the slight differences in personal approach that made Trista slightly nervous to be lying to them, about anything.

Each girl thought on a different wave length that helped them to analyze people and their reactions. Alicia took everything from a logical perspective. She was the only person that Trista knew that could literally look at a problem without messy, emotional ties. Not to say that she was heartless, or that she did not care for matters of the heart, but when faced with a problem, Alicia would always be the one to find the most logical approach no matter what the circumstance. When you think about it, it makes sense that Alicia's powers would be of an analytical and logical field.

Natalie was the complete opposite when it came to approach. She felt everything. Every hidden insecurity, fear, love, and anything and everything that was tied in with emotion. Every decision she made was based on both faith and feeling. Her favorite phrase was "well, it feels right". Not to say that she couldn't be logical, but the emotional state always would come before the analytical. She was always the one to come to with questions concerning the heart, which makes perfect sense as well; one would expect an empath to react on an emotional pathway.

Together the two were like a well oiled machine. They both would see the answer, but it was interesting to see how each girl would get to the conclusion. They were like human lie detectors. The three of them had never lied to each other before and never had Trista had the need to test their intuition before. For some strange reason, she felt she had to. _After all, one little lie won't hurt. Besides, they will know soon enough about the rings._

Why something as harmless as lying about the origin of a piece of jewelry felt so wrong was beyond her understanding, but she quickly put all the worrisome thoughts out of her mind as something outside of her musing caught her attention.

* * *

It had been only a few seconds since they lost contact with their friend, but to Alicia it felt like hours. One minute the three of them had been talking about some random argument between the two fickle roommates, and the next minute Trista was lost to her thoughts and was seemingly unresponsive.

What was even more bizarre was the fact that Alicia could no longer hear any of Trista's thoughts. It was like something was blocking the connection between the two. What really sent her stomach into spasms was the fact that other then the fact that Trista was obviously sitting before them, every other sense was screaming at Ali that her beloved friend was gone. It was obvious that Natalie sensed something out of the ordinary as well because she was out of her seat and sitting next to their void of a friend before Ali could even call out.

"Trista? Hey, snap out of it. Can you hear me?" Natalie asked as she snapped her fingers in front of Trista's face in a consistent tempo.

_Well, this isn't good._ Alicia thought while a grim look began to form on her face. She moved to the opposite side of Natalie and tried to softly shake her shoulder to get some sort of response in return. _Nothing. Damn, this is really not good. _She could tell from the rapid movement of thoughts coming from Natalie and the slight look of panic in her eyes that her roommate felt the same.

Then, as quickly as it came, the mysterious wall blocking Alicia from obtaining access to any snippet of thoughts vanished. It was like a floodgate had opened and every thought washed over Alicia as she watched her friend carefully. Trista's eyes were blinking rapidly to clear the haze that had built up after what had seemed like a lifetime of not blinking. Oddly, nothing else seemed out of place. Alicia flicked her eyes to try to catch Natalie's gaze, wondering if Natalie had caught something different.

With obvious tension still in her shoulders, Natalie rocked back on her heals from her squat and gave a small smile of relief. "Welcome back to planet Earth. Hope you had a pleasant trip because we sure did." She attempted to joke to break the tension in the room. _Nice try Nat, but I don't think that will work this time._

Trista took a minute to look at her two hovering friends. Then, to everyone's great surprise, she jumped back into the earlier conversation as if her space out moment had never occurred.

"Well I'm glad the two of you were not worried, because I sure was. It was not really the concept of being in a fight with Tori that concerned me, but it was the fact that my "friends" kept purposely moving things to piss her off. They are a little too comfortable with both my room and my roommate. Anyway, it has all been resolved now and Tori is once again completely oblivious to anything supernatural or abnormal. All she thinks is that I am a strange little girl who likes to leave tennis shoes in the shower and socks in the cabinet above the sink. Why are you two looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Trista asked after finishing her spiel in one breath.

Alicia did not know how to respond. How could you talk to your friend about a problem without even knowing what the problem was? But then again, what if it got worse because they didn't talk about it? One thing was certain in Alicia's mind. Why start drama without all of the answers or better yet, the questions? With her priorities set, she sent a look Natalie's way that she prayed could have been interpreted as _follow my lead_.

"Nope. I was just so surprised that you could hold so much air in that tiny body for such a long speech. As for Natalie, well, you know she can't control her facial expressions." Alicia noted with a smile while dodging the pillow thrown at her head from Natalie's direction.

"Come on! That is so not fair." Trista exclaimed with a slight pout.

"You asked." Alicia replied before seriously stating. "Look Tris, I really don't care if your "friends" are having fun or not, if Tori finds out about us, shit will hit the fan. I understand that all they are doing now is little pranks and such, but what if it gets worse and you can't cover fast enough? You know as well as I that she mentally would not be able to handle the concept of supernatural abilities. I realize that they really don't respond very well to the words "no" or "don't", but you have to find some way of telling them not to expose us."

"I agree. As funny as I think their pranks are, I am not ready to spend the rest of my existence as a lab rat because two out of control ghosts got bored with their afterlife." Natalie rolled her eyes at the thought after stating her peace and then returned to her chair in front of her lap top.

"Alright, message received. I'll try, but I'm not sure that they will listen." Trista let out a huge yawn. "I don't know about you guys, but I am really tired. I think I am going to bed."

Alicia glanced at Nat's alarm clock before stating. "It's only ten thirty; normally we have to kick you out so you can go get some sleep. You feeling ok?"

Trista slowly stood up. She moved shakily to her purse as if she felt slightly dizzy. She then walked to the door before turning to answer Ali's question. "Yeah, I am just really tired all of a sudden. Hang out tomorrow?"

Natalie quickly answered to cover for Alicia attempt to search for the truth. "Sure, just text us tomorrow, one of us should answer. Night babe, sleep well!"

With a small wave of acknowledgment, Trista slowly opened the door and left for her room. The moment the door closed Natalie moved to sit next to her roommate on the pink covered bed by the door and waited for the conversation that was bound to occur.

"Ok, what was that?" Alicia let out while waving her hands in frustration. "Nat, I couldn't even hear her anymore! It was like she was gone, poof, not even in the same room as us." She looked over at her friend for reassurance that what she wasn't making the whole thing up.

"I know, the moment you started panicking I did too because for a brief moment she emotionally did not exist. She was like a black hole, the harder I tried to probe, the less I got and the more drained I became." She shifted her legs to get into a more comfortable position before continuing.

"Honestly, I thought you had done something to make her come back, but then I felt your confusion and her lack of remembrance. She really blacked out for a moment. Something is not right." Natalie finished with a worried tone.

"I don't know what is going on with that girl Nat, but I think we should just watch and wait this one out." Alicia quickly put a hand up to stifle any objections Natalie might have before adding.

"It could just be a fluke, or it might be serious. We don't know anything yet. Trista is not in any immediate danger, trust me, we would know. Now, I say we relax and watch some more _Buffy_." She suggested before grabbing her nail polish to finish her work.

The two girls spent the rest of the evening watching television before going to bed. Neither girl felt completely satisfied with their choice of action, but decided to wait to see what would happen next, if anything.

* * *

Whispers. . . she heard whispers. They were different voices, yet they were so similar.

"Class, welcome to History 204. I am Professor LaGrange. Let us begin."

_A male voice, do I know him?_

"Who knows the answer? Anyone? You, the tall girl in the back, can you give the correct answer?"

_A classroom? Very strange. Is this a dream?_

"That is the correct answer. What is your name Miss?"

"My name is Madeline Savage, but you sir may call me Maddie."

_A young girl, she sounds like she wishes to flirt with her professor. Where is this? What is going on?_

"Welcome to the Bayou of the Blue Moon, Maddie. I look forward to seeing you in my class room."

_Blue Moon… that is my school! He flirts back, what is he doing? She sounds really young, too young for him._

The voices were getting louder and more demanding of her attention. She heard new voices join the mix.

"Can you believe it? Little miss popular thinks she can actually score a professor. She acts like the two of them are dating, and have you seen the way she talks to him in class? Talk about teacher's pet."

"Well she is in for a surprise. I heard that he is not one woman type of guy. She will just have to find out the hard way."

"Poor girl."

"Yeah right, that's what you get for messing around with the faculty."

_School gossip, gotta love living at a small school. Can anyone mind their own business?_

Louder…everything just kept getting louder. Something has changed. The air felt slightly different.

"Daniel, I think I am falling in love with you."

"Maddie I love you and I will always love you. You are what keeps me going each day."

"Really? Do you really love me?"

"Always and forever."

_Wow, they really sound like they love each other….what is going on?_

Another change was happening, she could feel it. It was like she was being pulled along on a ride through someone's memories, yet all she could hear was voices. As the voices kept building in both intensity and magnitude, several statements broke through and stood out.

"Daniel honey, I have some news. I'm pregnant. Please say something."

"Maddie darling, is that all? From the way you have been acting recently, I thought you were going to tell me something awful."

"You aren't mad?"

"Of course not, I love you. I'll admit that I am a little surprised, but this is nothing that we can't handle."

"Really? I am so relieved. I have been so anxious. I was so afraid that you would react badly."

"Maddie, you can relax now. Everything is fine and once we get this problem handled, everything will be back to normal. Everything will be fine, I promise."

"Wait… what do you mean? Handled…? You want me to get rid of the baby?"

"Of course. Surely you can't be thinking of keeping it. After all, I have a reputation to uphold. Fooling around is one thing, after all it is almost expected, but having a kid is a whole different story."

"What if I want to keep the baby? Don't I get a choice in the matter?"

This change was worse. She could no longer hear distinct voices. They all had melded into a screech of sound that was making her head pound. The sound kept getting louder as the intensity of the voices grew yet again. Then, out of the mass of fragmented sounds, one sentence was screamed out in such agony that her body ached in response.

"I thought you loved me!"

Trista's eyes shot open and tried to control her racing heart. As she glanced at her surroundings, the sight that her eyes fell upon was enough to make her racing heart stand still. A young woman in a white dress was hanging from the ceiling by a single rope strung around her neck. Her eyes were open as she stared at Trista. They seemed so hollow and sad, but they were focused directly at Trista and appeared to look right through her. As the young body swayed slightly in the breeze, Trista started to shiver with shock.

The young corpse whose face was presently frozen in fear, suddenly jolted as if sparked with electricity. Her head slowly tilted to the side to study the now trembling ghost whisperer before opening her mouth to speak. Her voice was familiar. Trista could tell that it was once a pleasant tone before the rope had done its job, but now it carried a darker tone that sent chills down her spine.

"You must help me!"

* * *

**A/N : As always, read and review!!!! (Please?)**


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